Do you really need all of those expensive tests?

You may have noticed the increased availability of Direct to Consumer Functional lab testing. If not, I will give you a little snapshot of what that's all about here.

At your routine physical, your primary care doctor probably runs things like cholesterol, CBC(complete blood count), maybe A1C(3-month average of blood glucose), and a CMP(comprehensive metabolic panel). That's about it.

As long as your numbers are within their "reference ranges" they consider everything all good and rarely look any further. However, these reference ranges are not OPTIMAL ranges!

You are told that everything looks good, regardless of how crappy you feel, and you are sent on your way.

With Functional Medicine, we dig deeper and there is a WIDE variety of tests that Functional Medicine Practitioners can order and run. Everything from additional blood tests, salivary tests, stool tests, and urine tests, and these tests are generally not covered by insurance.

My health has been very positively impacted by one of these Functional Medicine tests. The GIMAP stool test uncovered a pathogenic bacteria that was so out of control that my practitioner said she had never seen numbers that high in all her years of testing. Once we addressed that pathogen, my days of severe bloating, constipation, and abdominal pain were over and I went down 1 pants size.

HOWEVER.... as great as these tests can be, like everything else there is a note of caution.

With direct-to-consumer lab testing now available, it opens the door to so many people trying to self-diagnose and self-treat after consulting " Dr. Google". This can lead to things like needlessly restricting certain foods, taking supplements you don't need(or poor quality supplements), or creating other deficiencies. 

Not to mention the coaches that are working outside their scope of practice by ordering and interpreting these tests. 

*** some coaches have advanced certifications or licensures that allow some work with labs*** But a LOT do not

Testing is GREAT if done under the supervision of a trained professional who can help you objectively look at the tests and give you the plan to address any issues. It can also shorten the time it takes to sort through some complex chronic health conditions(Test don't Guess).

The problem comes into play when the person interpreting the test is treating the TEST RESULT and not the CLIENT.  Each individual is unique. Treating a lab or test with just supplements and not addressing the ROOT CAUSE of why this imbalance is presenting itself is not enough.

So YES, testing is helpful. If you follow these general guidelines:

1. Find a Practitioner who is qualified to run and interpret the tests
2. Realize that the test results are just a snapshot in time, they are not the whole story
3. Understand that supplementation based on test results is rarely enough to get to the root cause of the imbalance
4. Make sure you work with a coach to implement the recommendations vs. just visiting "Google"
5. Beware of the mindset that the next test will be it. THE ONE you need to sort out all of your health issues. That's seldom the case
6. Be mentally prepared to change some things about your lifestyle or nutrition. Test results are great, but if you aren't mentally prepared to act on them, it's a waste of your money.


I have the privilege of being a Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach and have early access to Dr. Mark Hyman's Function Health platform. This will revolutionize the functional medicine industry and bring it to more people. Real doctors are reviewing your labs and give you recommendations. Clients would work with me to implement the recommendations given to them by the doctors reading their labs. No guesswork, no working out of scope of practice.  If this sounds at all interesting to you, send me a message on social media or reply to this email to skip the current 50k+ person waitlist for this service.